How Disney’s Acquisition of Fox Affects Marvel

Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe started salivating at the news of a possible acquisition of Fox by Disney in the past few weeks, with an announcement rumored to happen sometime in the near future. This, of course, has lead to a lot of expectations on the same fans. While most have been jubilant, some have been wary of what this might bring to the two separate juggernaut universes. In this vain, we are going to look at the possible effects of the (hopefully successful) acquisition on the MCU.

Heroes Unite

The most obvious conclusion to this acquisition is of course the X-Men and Fantastic Four franchises coming back home to Marvel.

Fans have been clamoring for this in the past years as they have often dreamed about seeing members of the X-Men or the Fantastic Four teaming-up with their favorite Avenger, or even with the Avengers themselves. The common refrain from fans during Captain America: Civil War was how different would it have been had members of the X-Men or even Fantastic Four been in the movie. Further, the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War would be even more hyped-up if all the Marvel Heroes were under one roof.

Instead, at the time, Fox and Marvel had not seen eye to eye. However, Sony’s deal with Marvel might have been the catalyst that could possibly make this dream a reality.

Family-Friendly Entertainment

The downside of having this merger is the House of Mouse’s reluctance in developing R-Rated movies. Disney has been notorious for producing family-friendly material, be it movies, TV shows, and animated flicks, something that Fox has not shied away from.

Why is this a problem? Well, if you could remember that gem of a movie called Logan, and also Deadpool, then you’d see where we’re getting at. These movies have been rated “R”, but have unquestionably redefined the superhero genre. Had Logan been under the banner of Disney then we’d never get to see a drunk, depressed, violent Logan in his twilight. Fox gave us one of the most memorable superhero movies by having it cater to its mature audience, and the result might just be an Academy Award nod to Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart.

So, while everyone might be happy with having all the Marvel heroes in one place, it might come at a cost of great, mature story-telling.

More Reboots

Similar to the Disney -Sony deal was with Spider-man, the natural effect of this acquisition are the inevitable reboots of the X-Men and Fantastic Four franchises. Yeah, AGAIN.

The specifics of the deal between Disney and Fox still aren’t clear, there is hope that they may retain their casting choices but chances are more reboots and recastings are in store for fans of the respective franchises. The X-men have been sunsetting for awhile now, wrapping up previous timelines and storylines drawing the First Class saga to a close. It wouldn’t be too far fetched Marvel would want their own spin on that universe to fit the existing MCU. Additionall, We’re willing to bet that Fantastic Four wouldn’t mind a little reboot just to distance from their previous fiasco of a movie

It’s not like these franchises are strangers to reboots but they’ve been met with varying receptions in the past.

The X-Men franchise, although resulting to a mess of a timeline, has been mostly positive in its first go-round and the eventual reboot. The Fantastic Four franchise, however, has proven to be Hollywood poison with its poor audience reception, especially its most recent incarnation.

While these reboots might be cumbersome for some, it would also mean course-correcting for these two franchises. While the answer is up in the air whether these franchises will be recognized by Marvel in the MCU, the idea of having a reboot would probably water-down the impact of this merger. Just ask Spider-Man, in Spider-Man Homecoming.

New Baddies

With Marvel getting back the rights to X-Men and Fantastic Four, this opens up the possibility of having new major villains for the MCU going forward. The only way for the MCU to top Thanos in the villain department is to have badder, more powerful villains take center stage.

Imagine having Galactus or Doctor Doom terrorize our heroes and cast a bigger shadow then the Mad Titan. It also provides Namor to finally come into the fold for an eventual set-up the Illuminati to come to life in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Not to mention, given his stellar handling in the Fox movies, Magneto would be a powerful addition to the Marvel Villain roster. Even having the Phoenix come out as the big bad would do wonders for Marvel due to the Phoenix being one of the more popular and powrful villains out there. Of course, having the Phoenix as a main villain would also open up the possibility of having an Avengers vs. X-Men arc down the road.

Credit to EspenG

The possibilities are endless.

Comic Book Renaissance

A few years back, Marvel cancelled the Fantastic Four comics and have yet to officially bring the First Family back on the shelves. X-Men, on the other hand, have seen their major players (Professor X, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Wolverine) killed-off at some point, and brought back as newer versions of themselves.

While these often happen in the world of comics, one has to look at it as a means for Marvel to limit the audience of these two popular franchises. Just recently, the relaunch of Marvel titled “Legacy” brought back the X-Men line, but the absence of the Fantastic Four has been glaring.

Now, what does this have to do with the acquisition of these two properties from Fox? It would mean that Marvel may just put these books back on the shelf and put the gruesome, long-standing war at rest. This would mean better stories for X-Men and a reintroduction of the Fantastic Four in the comic books and finally peace for all our favorite Marvel heroes

Did we miss anything? Please let us know in the comments below!

Also please check out our other Marvel stuff like All the Easter Eggs you missed in Guardians 2 and Our Crazy Crackpot Theory about the Soul Stone!

Gino is the Gladiators’ resident TV and comicbook aficionado. He is Matt Murdock by profession in the day, without the vigilante crime fighting at night. He believes that the lightsaber is the best weapon during a zombie apocalypse.